The Cosmodrome is filled with the sounds of fighting, rifle rounds snapping through the air. The ground shakes as another grenade goes off nearby.
Artemis is hunkered down behind a large rock, Phi beside her. Artemis's Ghost sits on her shoulder, chirping enemy positions every few minutes.
Nes is on a nearby ridge, reloading his rifle for the fourth time in nearly an half an hour. The clearing away of Fallen has been relatively easy, but the dropships keep coming, reinforcing the enemy.
The Guardian line of offense has already been pushed back, almost to the edge of the territory.
"Why do the bad guys never take a break?" Phi complains, popping up from cover and almost immediately dropping back down as gunfire whizzes by her head.
"That would be too easy," Nes rumbles over the com, the clunk of his ammo clip loud even over the small distance that is between them.
"And when is life ever easy?" Artemis quips.
"True," her Ghost remarks.
"By the Stars!" Phi swears, peering over cover, taking shots at the Dregs that are huddling behind a large piece of metal that juts out of the landscape. "There are so bloody many!"
"Less talking, more shooting!" Nes barks. There is a clink as the Titan hurls two flash bang grenades. They go off about five seconds later; Artemis can feel the ground shiver beneath her.
Nearly two hours pass before the cries of the Fallen are silenced and the Guardians have a reprieve from battle.
"The Skywatch is almost cleared," Artemis's Ghost announces, cheerful. "Current estimate standing at 78% cleared."
"That's good," Artemis says, checking her ammo again. She's down to half her bag now.
"Phi?" the Hunter asks, glancing over at her friend. "How much ammo do you have?"
Phi looks through her own ammo bag, making a noise of irritation. "'Bout a third."
"Nes?"
The Titan's yellow eyes flicker to her for a moment before refocusing on the landscape beyond. "Half."
"Reinforcements are coming in from the City," Artemis's Ghost reports as Nes's own Ghost chirps the news.
"Good," the Titan says, "We could use the help." He pulls out a rocket launcher, one that Artemis recognizes as the Deacon RS/3. He pops a charge in and glances through the scope, scanning the area for more enemies.
He swears loudly, drawing both of his teammate's gazes.
"What is it?" Phi asks.
"Wolves," Nes snarls and pulls the trigger. An explosion rises from the far side of the Skywatch. Screams of rage and pain echo into the air.
Artemis winces, she has heard rumors of theses Wolves, part of the Fallen that once served the Queen of the Reef, but that were now running rogue and being hunted down by agents of the Queen and Guardians alike.
The Queen's Emissary, Petra Venj, had specifically petitioned for aid from the Tower months previous. Nes had fought and claimed a few of the bounties then and of the three of them, he is the only one to have battled the Wolves.
The Titan had described them as savage and battle-crazed. He shoots again and yanks the spent cartridge out and replaces it in seconds. Artemis checks her sniper rifle before dropping into cover and finding a target.
"A few bullets won't stop them," Nes hisses even the Fallen that she has aimed and shot at shakes off the headshot like it hadn't happened, "You need almost an armory's worth of ammo to even make a dent in their armor." He fires again, dropping the rocket launcher as it overheats with a hiss.
"Then we need better weapons," Phi says, rising and Artemis glances up in time to see purple Void energy gathering in her friend's hands. "Eat this, ya Fallen ass-hats!" she shouts and hurls it at the oncoming horde of enemies.
Nes gives a low whistle as the orb explodes into three smaller orbs and detonates. Enemies are sent flying, the ground scorched and burning. Some rise, apparently unfazed, other stay down.
Nes rises, cracking his knuckles. "Guess I'd better start making a dent in these annoying Wolves myself." He glances at his friends. "Try not to hit me, please."
Artemis nods and Nes takes off, heading across the ground between them and the Wolves. Nes is tough, he would be fine. Phi plops to the ground, winded. "Give me a sec," she says, waving a hand. "That was a lot of energy."
"You've got five minutes," the Hunter replies, peering through her scope.
Nes moves fast, even for a Titan. It's a fluid movement, like water over the rough terrain. He slams into the nearest Fallen, one armored fist knocking the Dreg clean off its feet and into a nearby Vandal who shrieks.
Artemis hits that one with a headshot. It is knocked back but remains alive. On the field, Nes leaps and slams the ground with both fists. Arc light swirls around him and out, sweeping over the foes with a roar.
The Titan quickly makes a retreat, managing to take out most of the Wolves as he goes.
Phi sits upright, reaching for her rifle, and helps provide a steady stream of cover fire for Nes. The Titan returns to their cover, retrieving his rocket launcher as he does.
"Got most of them," Artemis says, carefully aiming and finally taking down a Fallen Captain, golden light glimmering over the barrel of her rifle.
"Yeah," Nes says, loading another cartridge into the rocket launcher.
Ghost chirps, "Reinforcements have arrived."
Guardians appear from shimmers of white light, pouring onto the battlefield, taking up strategic positions. A Warlock Exo appears next to their team, signaling them to pull back.
Artemis slings her ammo bag across her shoulder, rising from her position. "Ghost, the ship."
"You got it."
Moments later, they are all safely aboard their own vessels and making their way back to the Tower for some much needed rest.
"Do you think, all of the Wolves will be caught?" Phi asks, her voice distorted somewhat by the comm.
"They will be," Nes says, his own voice roughened by weariness and fatigue. "We've already gotten half of them if the bounty board is correct."
"That's good," Phi remarks.
Artemis agrees, remembering how the Fallen had shook off their shots like they were nothing. "We need to get stronger," she says. "Much stronger."
The Darkness will return and they need to be ready. For anything.
But for now, Artemis thinks, leaning back in her seat, she is content to fight. And with her friends at her side, she feels as though anything is possible.
"Sushi sound good to everyone?" Phi asks suddenly, "My treat. I'm starving."
"Sounds good to me," Nes rumbles.
"…I've never had it," Artemis says, her face flushing even though no one else save Ghost can see.
There is a sudden silence from Phi and then, "You are going to love it! There is fish and rice and they do this thing where they add—!"
Nes cuts across her, "It'll be good, we promise."
"Good?" Phi says, her tone indignant, "It will be awesome!"
Artemis laughs. "Alright."
They end up in rather small sushi place on the lower edge of the Tower, in a side section of the market district. Phi orders everything and they take it out to a small grassy area overlooking the City.
Artemis examines the 'chopsticks' with unease. "How does one eat with these?"
"Let me show you," Phi says, grinning. She wields the utensils with grace. "Ta-da!" she holds up a piece of what is apparently Oshi sushi. "Easy."
Nes rolls his eyes, "Took me the better part of an hour the first time."
It takes a few tries but Artemis manages to grasp the concept.
"How you people eat with those things is beyond me," her Ghost comments, resting in the grass beside her.
"Practice, Ghost, lots of practice," Artemis says.
"True that," Nes comments, popping the last piece of sushi into his mouth and chewing.
"Hey!" Phi cries, "That was mine!"
"I didn't hear you call dibs," Nes says after swallowing. "No dibs means it's whoever grabs it first."
Artemis giggles at Phi's indignant expression. This, she thinks, is what she wants to protect. This family she has built for herself, from the ashes of what she had been. The way of life they live.
She sits back, watching the smaller Warlock attempt to tackle the much larger Titan in revenge.
"Ghost," she murmurs and he blinks his blue lights at her.
"What?"
"Record this." She gestures towards her friends. Phi is clinging to Nes's armor as he runs, trying to dislodge her.
"You got it."
She wants to remember this moment, this scene. And if she can use it for blackmail at some point, well, that's up to her, isn't it?